Read The Complete Poetry of John Milton Online
Authors: John Milton
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The Complete Poetry of John Milton (157 page)
2
The principle of catharsis is described in
Poetics
, VI.
3
“Evil communications corrupt good manners,” attributed also to Menander.
4
David Pareus (1548–1622), a Calvinist theologian, in his
Operum Theologicorum.
5
tyrant of Syracuse, who wrote numerous literary works.
6
See Suetonius, II, lxxxv.
7
This was a common ascription, though wrong.
8
a “defense” of the writing of the play, not the passage preceding the entrance of the chorus.
9
explained by the next phrase.
10
strophes of varying lengths.
11
a principal city of the Philistines, lying on the eastern Mediterranean in Palestine.
12
See
Nativity Ode
, n. 44.
13
that which is appointed by God, but punning etymologically on its being “hung” in his hair (l. 59).
14
require.
15
the interval between the old and the new moons; during this period the moon was thought by the ancients to be “vacating” the night in a cave. The etymologies of “cave” and “vacant” emphasize the “emptiness” of darkness.
16
susceptible (to something harmful).
17
spread in all directions.
18
too powerful to be resisted.
19
Judges xiv. 5–6: “a young lion roared against him … and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand.”
20
referring to natives of Pontus, on the Black Sea, known for their iron work.
21
too powerful to be resisted.
22
Ascalon was a Philistine coastal city; Judges xiv. 19.
23
rage.
24
also, “picked up at the crossroads.”
25
uncircumcised Philistines; Judges xv. 15–17. The following exploit is found in Judges xvi. 3; Azza is a variant of Gaza. The giants are the children of Anak who were expelled from Hebron by Caleb (Judges i. 20).
26
Atlas.
27
example of decline through loss of virtue, l. 173, common to men and government; Fortune’s wheel, l. 172, does not bring true glory.
28
cities from which Manoah came in the coastal valley of Sorec (l. 229).
29
meaning “swellings,” the word connotes the exaggeration or preoccupation arising from psychological disorder.
30
an inscription on a coin.
31
been equal.
32
to thwart my intended use to God.
33
See Judges xiv. 1–4; his association with Dalila is told in Judges xvi. 4 ff.
34
a volley (as of gunfire).
35
The Israelites are still subjugated by the Philistines.
36
I did not walk about soliciting commendation for my deeds.
37
a principal city of Philistia, standing for the whole.
38
Compare Mammon’s words in
PL
II, 255–57.
39
The cities of Succoth and Penuel refused to help the Hebrew general Gideon when he was pursuing the kings of Midian (Judges vii. 4–9).
40
Judges xi. 12–23, xii. 1–6. The Ephraimites were detected and slain by Jephthah’s Gileadites when they could not pronounce the first syllable of “Shibboleth” correctly.
41
my nation.
42
Rev. xv. 3: “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord, God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”
43
both “unknown” and “in the darkness of ignorance.”
44
Psalms xiv. 1: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
45
the obligation of the Israelites not to marry outside their nation.
46
deceitful.
47
subordinate (to faith and revelation).
48
full of concern.
49
consider.
50
strange.
51
directed.
52
That is, indicative of his present low state, he is lying down.
53
arraign.
54
impiously revealed.
55
the answer to Samson’s riddle (Judges xiv. 12–18).
56
“major,” “fatal,” and connected with the head.
57
tired from being vigilant.
58
distrust.
59
shut his eyes.
60
forehead.
61
referring to Tantalus who had divulged the secrets of the gods.
62
heroic for God’s greater glory.
63
tricks of love (from Venus).
64
fresh water.
65
weaken.
66
refuse or offal.
67
at Ramath-lechi (Judges xv. 18–19).
68
natural.
69
melancholy.
70
symptoms.
71
the mind and the senses.
72
soothing.
73
premature.
74
Tarsus (now an area of Turkey) is here identified with the proud Biblical Tarshish; the isles of Noah’s grandson are the isles of Greece, and Gadier is Cadiz. The ship was frequently used as a symbol of prostitution.
75
ambergris.
76
The hyena was supposed to entice men by imitating man’s voice in order to devour them.
77
propose.
78
volleys of words (as of gunfire).
79
passionately, sensitively.
80
lack.
81
snares, and nets to trap game.
82
Adders were proverbially deaf, but Samson also means his knowledge now of evil. Satan is called an adder in
PL
IX, 625.
83
Philistine cities.
84
spices burnt in ritual offerings.
85
Jael struck a nail through the temples of the Canaanite leader Sisera (Judges v. 24–27).
86
possess.
87
Best Man, at a wedding.
88
prefer.
89
incurred, concentrated in intensity.
90
cargo, i.e., business.
91
fate, mishap.
92
plain of battle or tournament field.
93
challenge to single combat.
94
treacherously attacked.
95
plated body armor.
96
jacket of mail.
97
respectively, armor for the forearm, the legs, and the hand.
98
The staff of Goliath’s spear was also like a weaver’s beam (1 Sam. xvii. 7).
99
coarse and strong.
1
thy people.
2
See ll. 256–64.
3
See Judges xiv. 19.
4
sun god of the Philistines.
5
front line of battle.
6
disgraced and frustrated.
7
queen of heaven.
8
alluding to 2 Sam. xxi. 15–22.
9
skillfully wrought.
10
point him out.
11
beware.
12
imposed.
13
courage.
14
give a dispensation to.
15
because I do not desire them to.
16
tried to persuade.
17
The rest of their revenge they would magnanimously remit.
18
as kinsmen.
19
both “alms” and “pain.”
20
moves slowly.
21
empty.
22
resolved.
23
quality.
24
benches.
25
men and horses clad in armor, and spearsmen.
26
elated.
27
Shiloh.
28
foolish.
29
condemned.
30
winged serpent emitting fire. Samuel S. Stollman (
English Language Notes
, VII [1970], 186–89) cites as allusion Gen. xlix. 16–18: “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path.… I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.”
31
farmhouse.
32
The lines refer the victory over the Philistines and their god to the Providence of God as comparison with
PL
VI; 762–64, shows.
33
the Phoenix.
34
sheltered.
35
living for (five) centuries.
36
condition.
37
ordering.
38
Compare Ps. xxvii. 9: “Hide not thy face far from me,” and Ps. lxxxviii. 14: “Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?”
39
acquisition.
40
As comparison with Milton’s first sentence concerning tragedy indicates, complete catharsis has occurred.
41
Traditional dating places
SA
last of Milton’s poetic works (c. 1670), but this has been challenged by Parker, Gilbert, and the editor (see articles listed in the
bibliography
). The dates given here are those conjectured by Parker. See the introduction for an explanation of the order in which the poems are printed here.
Collations of all known significant texts have been prepared for all poems. For brevity, however, only verbal variants in all texts and similar important differences are reported here. Manuscript readings which are not final are omitted, and abbreviations are generally expanded.
The basic text from which the present version of a poem is derived is marked by an asterisk. Milton’s holograph copies best represent his intentions, though they contain some errors, lack full punctuation, and evidence spelling practices which were later abandoned. A basic manuscript text is altered in the direction of a basic printed text. Scribal copies and printed versions, however, are filled with idiosyncracies in mechanics. A text given in this edition follows the copy available which seems to have been closest to Milton; alterations are made when authority is found in another text, when (as with punctuation) they are necessary for easy understanding of a line, when an error seems certain, and when meter dictates. In addition a few spellings are changed to more standard (and Milton’s later) forms: these include the dropping of most redundant final “e’s.” The result of these principles is, unfortunately, inconsistency; but it represents the kind of text offered the seventeenth-century reader without being an uncritical duplication of an original printing.
There were two collected editions of the minor poems during Milton’s lifetime, one in 1645 and one in 1673; some poems appeared in separate publications or in other collected volumes, noted where pertinent.
SA
and
PR
were issued together in 1671, the only authoritative source;
PL
was first published in 1667 (reissued with introductory material in 1668 and 1669) and then revised for a second edition in 1674. Publication is referred to by date in the notes. Original copies in the New York Public Library are reported, compared with the facsimiles in Harris F. Fletcher’s four-volume edition.
Aside from brief or incidental materials (corrections in presentation volumes, etc.) and copies with, apparently, no direct Miltonic connection, manuscript sources are the Trinity College MS (facsimile by William Aldis Wright, London, 1899), the Bridgewater MS of
A Mask
,
the MS of the
Ode to Rouse
, and the MS of Book I of
PL.
These four important MSS are published in facsimile by Fletcher.
Evidence for the date of composition of each poem is cited as briefly as possible, since the researches of such men as Hanford, Parker, Tillyard, and Woodhouse have made it possible to record rather definite dates for most of the poems. For purposes of dating, the order of entry in the
TM
is obviously significant, but the arrangement within groups in the early editions is also informative, although errors or printing exigencies may have altered Milton’s arrangement.
A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM 114
Date:
1624; composed, according to headnote, when Milton was fifteen.
Texts:
1645*, 1673.
PSALM 136
Date:
1624; composed, according to headnote for
Ps.
114, when Milton was fifteen.
Texts:
1645*, 1673. A manuscript copy from the 1645 printing occurs in a poetic collection by William Sancroft (Bodleian Library, Tanner MS 466, pp. 34–35, ff. 20
v
–21); there are no verbal variants.
(7–8)
et al.
For &c. / For, &c.
and
For his, &c.
1645 and 1673 vacillate slightly differently between these two abbreviations.
(10, 13, 17, 21, 25) That / Who 1673.